| Sani | |
|---|---|
| nɪ˨˩ do˨˩ | |
 Sani written in Yi script | |
| Native to | China |
| Ethnicity | Yi |
Native speakers | 100,000 (2007)[1] |
| Yi script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ysn |
| Glottolog | sani1269 |
Sani (Chinese:撒尼;pinyin:Sani) is one of theLoloish languages spoken by theYi people ofChina. It is one of sixYi languages recognized by the Chinese government, under the nameSoutheastern Yi. Sani is spoken inShilin,Luliang,Luxi,Shizong,Yiliang,Malong,Luquan, andMile counties by about 120,000 speakers.[2]
The Sani[sa˨˩ni˨˩] call themselves[ni21]. Their language is distinct from the closely relatedSamei, whose speakers call themselvesSani[sa21ni53].[1]
Another group known as theSa 撒 (autonym: Sani 撒尼) lives inQiubei County (Yunnan 1960).[3] Yunnan (1960) considers it to be similar to Sani ofShilin County. The ethnic population consisted of 1,443 as of 1960.
Pelkey (2011:378) defines two innovations that Sani andAxi both share with each other.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||